Playing Princess

Fox stole, crinoline, satin and organza dresses, rhinestone jewellery, lace veil, and beaded drawstring evening bag; what more could a woman want? Or a little girl. My youngest auntie would dress me up in all this out-dated paraphernalia from some treasure chest in my grandparents’ house. I had no idea whose wardrobe and accessories these were to begin with, definitely not my grandmother’s as she was a plain dresser. I did not care; to me they were all mine! My Dad suspects they were left behind by Great-Aunt Lily who lived in California for awhile. I was only about four years old when Auntie Louise and I started this fantastical game of dress-up, but I remember bits and pieces of it to this day. To my delight, a couple of years ago my parents found photos of me in splendid bliss as “the princess” and “the bride”.

This is another piece of “Bite-Size Memoir” ( memoir in 150 words – no more, no less) a writing project initiated by Lisa Reiter.

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21 thoughts on “Playing Princess”

How cute are you Suzanne? These photos are adorable! I have plenty of photos of my kids dressing up but not many of me as a child (although my mother does have some cine film my grandfather took of us as kids when I’m clopping about in my mum’s high heels!!). What great fun you and your Auntie Louise had and what wonderful memories to share for this week’s memoir, love it 🙂

Oh! “Like” 😊
What gorgeous photos and description of dressing up! The dresses look to be child size – in fact perfect on you! So unusual back then or perhaps someone had gone to the special effort of adjusting them for another child. Who was that girl? A story in there sometime..

Your writings make my day, as well!
I look for them in my mail…
Those photos are priceless! I thought I caught a glimpse of a young Grace Kelly in the blue gown, and maybe just a little bit of Madonna in the bridal gown..?! What would the Nuns have thought?! 😉
Precious memories with your Auntie for sure, thanks for sharing such dear photos!!

LOL Sue…..I gave up the glamour look about 34 years ago! Kind of funny when I think about it….I had eclectic taste even as a kid….since I was kind of tomboy-ish in that I loved to play outside and get dirty but I did also love pretend “girly” play just as much.

Oh Suzanne, what delightful memories… I remember how your Mom always worried that those old furs might be full of vermin… Gramma did so much sewing, she always had a huge box of all kinds of clothing and she was able to do just about anything… even made red and green cowboy hats for Aunt Pauline and I… Now that’s another story! Love, Dad

What a great choice of prompt this was. What wonderful stories and photos! I think both children and adults who love to dress in costumes, vintage clothing, etc. enjoy stepping out of themselves and being someone else….even just for awhile. Or perhaps show a different part of ourselves we don’t usually reveal.

What great fun, love the dresses and the jewelry! It sounds like your auntie tapped into her creative heart and shared it with you. My youngest auntie and her first cousins would sometimes play dress up with me as they were 7 to 10 years older than me. Lovely that your photos showed up, unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of that time for me but I am hoping to inherit some in the future, if they exist.

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Enjoy tossing out words recklessly and playfully! Believe in magic of blue-green elixir and word balms. Dabbling abstract artist, writer of poetry that does not rhyme & stories that may or may not be true.